Pre-Rwanda

I just have one more day until I start my journey in Rwanda.  I am supposed to have a mission statement for my time there and I have decided to use BE THE CHANGE YOU WANT TO SEE IN THE WORLD.   I realize that I am just one out of the 6,884,909,953 people in the world but I hope that I will be able to help change at least one person’s life. 

I constantly get the question, why are you going? Why Rwanda?  I suppose I will answer that question right now for everyone.  About 2 years ago I had the opportunity to have Paul Rusesabagina over to my home for dinner.  For those of you who aren’t familiar with that name he is the man who saved hundreds of lives in the Rwandan genocide and who the movie Hotel Rwanda is about.  Listening to him talk about everything he experienced made me ache for the people of Rwanda.  Ever since then I promised myself I would one day go and help those in need.  I read a book shortly after that is called, Left to Tell which is about a woman who spent almost 3 months in a tiny bathroom with several other woman hiding.  This was a deeply disturbing book, but it strengthened my resolve to go and help.

Yesterday as I was packing to leave I started to get nervous.  It finally hit me that I am leaving.  I have been waiting for this for months, if not my entire life.  As I walked out of my room for the last time and closed the door behind me I thought about how next time I walk through that door I would be a new person.  I hope I can change lives, and in return let those I’m serving change mine.  I know this experience will be heart breaking, exciting, challenging, and most of all rewarding.